Portable cot



June 4, 1968 P. J. DANIEL PORTABLE COT- Filed May 8. 1967 1 I l l i I I F I I l l United States Patent 3,386,111 PORTABLE COT Peggy J. Daniel, 1227 Silverleaf Circle, Oakcrest, Charleston, S.C. 29407 Filed May 8, 1967, Ser. No. 636,823 4 Claims. (Cl. -81) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A portable wheeled cot or stretcher used in transporting bedridden patients or invalids from place to place within a hospital and the like or for transferring patients from a fixed bed at a given location to another location with a minimum amount of disturbance or shift in bodily position.

Summary of the invention While the transportation of patients within a hospital or sanitarium from one bed to another or to a surgery table is a common and daily occurrence, it is frequently accompanied by accident and injury to such patients caused by the inefficiency, want of know-how or lack of physical strength on the part of the hospital personnel. Sometimes the patient is inadvertently dropped by the personnel who seek to lift the patient, or sometimes the patient is improperly secured to the means of conveyance and falls to the floor during the journey. In any event, the patient may sustain serious injury to his body or organs; for which the hospital can of course be held liable. An object of my present invention therefore is to provide conveyance means for patients which will eifectively eliminate entirely such accidents and injuries or will reduce them to a negligible minimum.

In use, the stretcher or cot is wheeled to the bottom of the bed, locking bars released, and the adjustable members of the framework of the stretcher are Wide enough apart to permit the cot to be wheeled over the bed and over the patient lying therein. When the stretcher has thus been moved to straddle the bed and the patient, the patient is lifted from the bed by the stretcher mechanism, secured to the stretcher, which is then moved away from the bed and its adjustable members returned to their closed position. With the stretcher in its closed position, the device can be Wheeled along corridors, through ordinary doorways, and between beds. Arriving at its destination, the framework of the stretcher is again quickly adjusted, then moved over the bed or surgery table and the patient gently deposited thereon.

Brief description of the drawings FIG. 1 is a perspective view of my stretcher or cot;

FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof, showing the stretcher in a folded or closed position;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2, but showing the stretcher with its sides extended outwardly;

FIG. 4 is a detailed view of the type of pivot that enables vertical members, connected with horizontal members, to move outwardly;

FIG. 5 is a detail of the ratchet mechanism for raising, tightening, and holding taut the long rubberized canvas sheet; and

FIG. 6 is a detailed view of retractable fastening loops mounted on the transverse shafts.

Detailed description of preferred embodiment Referring now to FIGS. l-6, there is shown parallel, horizontally extending, spaced apart elongated members 10, each composed of two telescopically fitting sections which can be moved toward and away from each other manually to vary the length thereof. To hold said tele- 3,386,l l I Patented June 4, 1968 scoped sections at a predetermined position, removable pins 50 are placed through aligned holes in said sections.

Vertically disposed tubular members 16, having vertical extensions 20 at their upper ends, are pivotally connected at said extensions 20 to each end of elongated member 10 by a pin 22. As shown in FIG. 4, the ends of loop extensions 20 are cut diagonally to allow said extensions to be rotated on pin 22 through in the direction of the arrow to the dotted line position. At the lower end of each vertical tubular member 16 is a rubber tired wheel 12 whose axle carries a vertical support 14 having its upper end telescopically fitted into the lower end of said tubular member 16, so that said supports 14 and wheels 12 are rotatable in said tubular members 16. Said supports 14 are not, however, adjustable to increase or decrease the height of said elongated members 10 above the floor; in fact, the height of the stretcher remains constant. Not only is tubular member 16 made to a predetermined height, but most hospital beds and surgery tables can be raised or lowered at will to accommodate the stretcher herein described.

Rotatably mounted at the midpoint of each tubular member 16 is a T-coupling 24, all four couplings being at the same height above the floor. These couplings 24 are maintained at such height by pins 18 diametrically disposed through holes in said tubular members 16. These pins 18 also have the function of acting as stops for vertical supports 14 which, as previously described, support rubber tired wheels 12. Connecting each pair of couplings 24 thus longitudinally aligned is a horizontal support member 26, which is also formed in two sections telescopically fitted together in the same way as are elongated members 10. This support member 26 is parallel with and directly beneath said elongated member 10 when the stretcher framework is. closed.

A locking bar 30 is attached between corresponding ends of vertical tubular members 16, one end of said bar being pivotally connected by a pin 28 on one tubular member, the other end of the bar provided with a recess which hooks over another pin 29 on the corresponding tubular member 16.

An important and necessary feature of the invention is a rubberized canvas sheet, approximately three (-3) feet wide and running the length of the bed. This sheet is placed on the patients bed, next to the mattress, before the bed is made up or a patient is put into the bed. On each end of this sheet is a reinforced tape to which three equally spaced hooks are permanently attached. FIG. 2 shows in dotted lines 45 the location of this canvas sheet. Transverse shafts 36 extend between corresponding ends of elongated members 10, the ends of said shafts 36 passing through recesses in said elongated members 10 to rotate therein. On each transverse shaft 36 are attached three equally spaced loops 44 to which the equally spaced hooks of the said canvas sheet 45 are attached.

Secured to one end of each transverse shaft 36 is a detachable handle 38, FIG. 1, and at the other is a rachet and pawl arrangement 40, FIGS. 2 and 3, and is shown in detail in FIG. 5. Rachet 43 and hinged pawl 41 can be used for easy raising and tautening of said canvas sheet and for indefinitely holding the weight of the patient, while detachable handle 38 can be used as a brake in lowering the patient a few inches to a bed or table after pawl 41 has been disengaged from rachet 43. Because extension 20 is in the way of using said detachable handle 360 in the braking process, the handle can, if necessary, be removed and replaced at another angle from time to time in the lowering process.

A second rubberized canvas sheet 32, shorter and narrower than the canvas sheet indicated at 45, is securely attached to one of elongated members 10 at approximately its longitudinal center. This sheet also has reinforced tapes at its end, the tape at its'attached end being provided with loops 35, the tape at its free end having three equally spaced hooks 34.

Operation After the stretcher frame is wheeled over the bed with its patient, as previously described, the hooks at 'both ends of the canvas sheet, indicated at 45, are secured to loops 44 on both transverse shafts 36, giving the canvas sheet the appearance of a hammock which has not yet been stretched for attachment. Each transverse shaft 36 is then turned by raising and lowering pawl 41 so that each end of the canvas sheet will be rolled up onto transverse shaft 36 just as photographic film is rolled onto a bobbin or reel. Such action hoists the patient from the bed and once the rubberized canvas sheet is taut, the patient will have passed through the rectangular frame composed of elongated members and transverse shafts 36 and be lying as though on the usual stretcher.

The cot is then rolled off and away from the bed. Vertical tubular members 16 are returned to their original position by aligning loop extensions 20 with elongated members 10, which causes horizontal support members 26 also to return to their positions shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Locking bars 30 are swung up and hooked over pins 29. At this point the short narrow canvas sheet 32 is brought under the opposite elongated member 10, then over the patient and secured by books 34 to loops 35 on the first elongated member 10. With the two canvas sheets 45 and 32 the patient now has not only adequate and comfortable support for the weight of his body but his body is also kept from being laterally displaced.

When the patient has been wheeled to his destination such as a bed or table, the stretcher framework is again opened by moving vertical tubular members 16 outwardly, pushing the device over the object onto which the patient will lay, releasing pawl 41 of the raising mechanism 40, allowing rachet 43 to rotate to slacken the canvas sheet 45, using detachable handle 38 as a brake, until the said sheet and patient have come to rest upon the bed or table or other object. When it is evident that the patient has been properly and safely delivered, small canvas sheet 32 is first removed by releasing hooks 34 from loops 35, and then canvas sheet 45 by releasing the hooks from loops 44.

If, however, the patient is in surgery, the long canvas sheet will remain under him to afford quick and easy removal to another location. Once he is returned to bed on which a clean sheet has already been placed, and the patient lowered by the device, the hooks on the canvas sheet 45 at the patients feet will only then be released and the long sheet rolled completely onto the transverse shaft 36 at the patients head. The said sheet would be automatically pulled from under the patient (from feet-to-head) Without disturbing his position.

During such transfer, the patient does not have to be lifted or touched by attendants, nor required to assume any particular position or otherwise to cooperate in the matter; as a matter of fact, the patient could be so transferred while asleep or unconsciuos.

Since the use of my invention does not contemplate the lifting of patients by hospital personnel, physical injuries to either patient or hospital employees are virtually eliminated.

While I have described my invention with particular reference to the drawings, my protection is to be limited only by the terms of the claims which follow.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A portable cot comprising:

first and second parallel horizontally extending vertically aligned spaced apart elongated members; four Wheels;

four wheel support elements, each element including a vertical portion secured at its lower end to a corresponding wheel and at its upper end having a vertical loop extension extending above the plane of the first and second members, each extension being secured to a corresponding end of a corresponding member; and

first and second horizontal supports, each support being parallel to and disposed below a corresponding member and connected between the two elements connected to the corresponding member intermediate the ends thereof.

2. A cot as set forth in claim 1 further including first and second spaced apart parallel shafts extending transversely between and connected to both members, each shaft being manually rotatable about its own axis.

3. A cot as set forth in claim 2 wherein each member and each support is adjustable manually in length.

4. A cot as set forth in claim 3 wherein each extension is hingedly secured to the corresponding end of the corresponding member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,666,212 1/1954 Flanders 5-86 2,818,315 12/1957 Limbach 5-81 2,908,916 10/1959 Fischer et a1. 5-86 3,259,922 7 /1966 Fischer 5-86 CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner. 

